Bad Bunny prevails in reggaeton copyright suit, judge reverses ruling
USA Today • • entertainment
Key Points:
- A federal judge reversed a previous decision, blocking a copyright lawsuit against Bad Bunny and other artists over the use of the dembow rhythm from the '90s hit "Fish Market," ruling the claims did not meet legal standards to proceed to trial.
- The lawsuit, filed in 2021 by Cleveland “Clevie” Browne and heirs of Wycliffe “Steely” Johnson, accused over 150 artists of sampling copyrighted recordings in more than 1,800 reggaeton songs.
- Bad Bunny's legal team argued the infringement claims were based on a combination of musical elements from different songs, and the judge agreed that the plaintiffs failed to identify a specific copyrighted work with the claimed selection and arrangement.
- The ruling dismissed a large portion of the lawsuit, but the case remains open regarding other claims about alleged direct samples of Steely and Clevie's music.
